1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of data communications and, more particularly, to systems and methods for authenticating an intended user in a roaming environment.
2. Background Art
Currently, cables and wires are predominately used in communication networks for transferring information such as voice, video, data, etc. from one device to another. Devices on a communication network can be generally categorized as two types: servers and clients. Those devices that provide services to other devices are servers; the devices that connect to and utilize the provided services are clients. Typically, cable or wire clients operate within a defined geographical area to report information back to the server.
However, there is a growing desire to have network clients be portable or to have a mobile client that can operate beyond a defined geographical area. For example, a typical mobile client can send and receive information wirelessly while moving (or roaming) from one defined geographical area to another. To ensure that the mobile client is connected to its mobile communication network, a handover (or handoff) mechanism is used to switch an on-going wireless communication session from one network geographical area (or cell) to another.
Since information such as voice, video, and data are transmitted and received wirelessly in a mobile communication network, this information can be intercepted by an impersonator posing as an intended user. Thus, authentication of the intended user is a very important element of a mobile communication network. One way to authenticate an intended user to a mobile communication network and to allow the intended user to roam from one geographical area to another would be to allow all users to enter the mobile communication network and to authenticate and identify the intended user at a central authentication center (in a central core) of the mobile communication network. However, using the central authentication center to authenticate and identify the intended user would not be ideal because this approach would allow an impersonator to also enter the central core of the mobile communication network and possibly tamper with the mobile communication network. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that can authenticate and identify the intended user to the mobile communication network outside the central core of the mobile communication network. In addition, there is a need to ensure that a mobile client of the authenticated user can switch or roam from one geographical area to another with little to no notice and/or interaction by the authenticated user.